Maynard, MA, USA: Beacon-Villager newspaper column on local history, observations on nature and recreational activities, plus an occasional health-related article. Columns from 2009-11 collected into book "MAYNARD: History and Life Outdoors." Columns from 2012-14 collected into book "Hidden History of Maynard." - David A. Mark

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Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Consider the Muskrat

Caltech mascot is a beaver

MIT mascot is a beaver. Officially,
"Tim the Beaver"

Consider the muskrat. A muskrat can be thought of as a
low-rent version of a beaver – they toil but do not build, their tails make no
signature slap upon the waters when startled, trapped, their fur is worth less,
and no college (and only one high school – Algonac, MI) ever selected the
muskrat as its mascot; this versus the beaver mascots for MIT, Caltech, Babson College,
Oregon State University, University of Maine at Farmington, and others. For more than 125
years there was a BeaverCollege, originally located in the town of Beaver, PA, but later relocated across the state to near Philadelphia; from 1907 to 1972 it was BeaverCollege
for Women, then co-ed, meaning that it was also BeaverCollege for men, but finally
undertaking a name change in 2001 to ArcadiaUniversity. (Past
graduates were able to get replacement diplomas with the new name.)

Enough with run-on sentences. The muskrat is small. Adults
weight about three pounds (compared to 30 or more for a beaver). The muskrat is
short-lived. Average lifespan in the wild is 3-4 years. The muskrat is
prolific. Females reach sexual maturity at one year, and can have 2-3 litters
per year, 6-8 kits per litter. The muskrat is omnivorous. While the roots and
stems of aquatic plants are a diet mainstay, muskrats will eat insects,
crayfish and dead fish. In turn, the muskrat is food for many predators,
falling prey to mink, coyote, fox and raccoons on land, owls descending from
the air, lastly snapping turtles, otters and large fish in the water.

Muskrat swimming. When startled, they can
dive, and stay under water several minutes.

Muskrats are covered with short, thick fur brown or black in
color, with the belly a bit lighter. The fur has two layers, which helps
protect them from the cold water. The tail is hairless, rat-like in appearance,
and used for swimming. The tail drags on the ground when walking on land, and
so leaves a distinctive trail when walking on mud or snow.

Muskrats spend much of their time in the water, typically
the shallow water of marshlands, streams and small ponds. Muskrats will reside
at beaver ponds, and may even move into an abandoned beaver lodge. Otherwise,
muskrats create modest-sized mounds of soft vegetation (not sticks or branches)
near the shore, with a living chamber inside and an underwater entrance, or
else burrow into river banks and live in these tunnels. The combination of less
vegetation (eaten or for habitat) and shoreline burrowing contributes to erosion and
flood risk.

A muskrat "push-up", in this instance using stems from marsh plants,
provides some shelter from weather and predators, but is not nearly
as large or as sturdy as a beaver family's branches and mud abode.

Muskrats are indigenous to North
America. Because many people in many countries thought it would be
a good idea, muskrats are an invasive species across much of northern Europe,
across much of Siberia, and also in parts of South America.
The animals were imported either for fur farms, and then escaped, or were released
to the wild with the idea that local trappers would have one more species to
trap. The consequences are the same ecological impacts seen in North America – erosion and flood risk – made worse by the
absence of mink, the primary predator. (Mink is also an invasive species in
parts of Europe, but that is another story.)

In Massachusetts,
shooting muskrats is against the law, but a license can be obtained for
trapping. The season opens on November 1st and closes at the end of
February. Muskrat fur does not have the same cachet as mink, but there is some
demand for muskrat pelts, especially from Korea
and China.
Prices at auction are about $3-4/pelt. Wild mink brings about $10-12/pelt.
Farmed mink, a larger animal with a higher quality fur, brings $50-80/pelt. The
official winter hat of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is made with muskrat
fur.